4 August 2026
Who does this notice affect?
This notice affects importers of processed, whole peanut kernels, shelled and unshelled, for human consumption, as well as their customs brokers, freight forwarders, and relevant industry bodies.
What is changing?
Effective from 11 August 2026, the department will be updating the biosecurity import conditions for whole, processed peanuts, shelled and unshelled, specified in the ‘Peanuts for human consumption or processing’ BICON case.
Commercial documentation will be required declaring that the peanuts have been roasted, fried, boiled or blanched to achieve 100% devitalisation of the peanut kernels.
There will also be mandatory inspection on arrival for all roasted, fried, boiled and blanched whole peanut consignments, to increase assurance of compliance in this pathway. The inspection will verify that the peanuts are sufficiently processed and are free from raw peanuts, contaminant seed and other biosecurity risk material.
If suspected raw peanuts are found, the goods may be directed for germination testing or seed viability testing at the importer’s expense. Goods will remain under biosecurity control until the test results are received. If any level of seed viability is reported, the goods will be directed for onshore treatment, where available, re-export or destruction.
Importers are responsible for ensuring peanuts have undergone sufficient offshore thermal processing to achieve seed devitalisation before export to Australia. This may require importers to arrange germination testing offshore to assure themselves before continuing to source from manufacturers.
All other existing import requirements will remain unchanged.
A separate pathway for roasted, fried and boiled peanuts will be created in BICON.
Importers should expect a longer processing time for processed peanut entries in scope of the changes, and should prepare accordingly.
These changes will be reflected in the relevant BICON import condition pathways on 11 August 2026. All roasted, fried, boiled and blanched whole peanut consignments processed by the department on or after this date are subject to the revised import conditions.
Further information
For further information, please contact Plant Import Operations via email at imports@aff.gov.au (please title the subject line of the email with “Plant T2 – Seeds and Grains”).